by Gil Marks
2 whole cloves garlic
About 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar or fresh lemon juice
1 to 1½ teaspoons table salt or 2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns or ¼ to ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
About 7 cups water
2 to 8 cloves garlic, minced or sliced
3 hard-boiled eggs, thinly sliced
1. Place the feet in a large pot, cover with cold water, and bring to a boil. Boil until scum rises to the surface, about 10 minutes. Drain off and discard the water. Rinse the feet.
2. Place the feet, onions, garlic cloves, vinegar, salt, and pepper in a clean large pot. Add fresh water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat, and simmer until the meat falls off the bone, at least 4 hours or overnight. Taste for seasonings.
3. Remove the bones from the pot. Remove any meat from the bones and chop or shred, and discard the bones. Strain the liquid. Stir in the meat and minced garlic. At this point, the dish can be served hot as a soup.
4. Pour into a shallow 2-quart (8-inch square or 11-by 7-inch) pan or a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan. Arrange the egg slices over the liquid. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 8 hours. To serve, cut into pieces.
Pumpernickel
Rye tends to spread wild like a weed, so throughout the Middle Ages, most breads in northern Europe were made from maslin, a natural mixture of rye and wheat. Bread made solely from wheat, the majority of it imported, was much more expensive. Then in 1443, during a particularly devastating wheat famine, bakers in Westphalia, Germany, were forced to make a bread solely from coarse whole-grain rye flour, without wheat; this loaf developed into a distinctive form of dark bread called schwarzbrot (black bread) and grobes brot (coarse bread). In Bavaria, the bread is commonly formed in a flour-dusted large round woven basket, resulting in a beehive shape. To make genuine schwarzbrot, part of the rye flour is soaked in water, forming organic acids and flavor compounds. Crumbs from older loaves are added, which makes the dough easier to handle and imparts extra color and flavor. This dough is naturally leavened, without sourdough starter or added yeast, and baked in extremely large loaves at a low temperature for an extended period, resulting in a dense, coarse, slightly acidic, and very dark bread. However, by the late nineteenth century, some German bakeries were already supplementing the dough with zuckerruebensyrup (sugar beet syrup) to impart a sweeter flavor and darker color without the traditional schwarzbrot-making process.
Meanwhile, the residents of early seventeenth- century Westphalia merged two words, pumper (lumbering) or pumpen (flatulent) and nickel (dwarf or goblin), to form a term of derision meaning "a fool" or "bumpkin," and around 1663 pumpernickel was applied to the dark peasant bread. The widespread story that Napoleon coined the term when feeding the bread to his horse, saying "pain pour Nicole," is pure folk etymology. The word was recorded in England in 1756 in an account of Germany in Thomas Nugent's The Grand Tour. He wrote, "Their bread is of the very coarse kind, ill baked, and as black as coal, for they never sift their flour. The people of the country call it Pompernickel." Pumpernickel made its first appearance in print in America in 1839 in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's accounts of traveling abroad, Hyperion. Around this time, German immigrants brought pumpernickel to America.
Few bakers in the New World, however, were willing to maintain the traditional time-consuming process of preparing German pumpernickel, so they adapted the recipe and cooking method. In the early twentieth century, eastern European Jewish immigrants, accustomed to the dark ryes of their homeland, readily adopted American pumpernickel into their repertoire of breads; subsequently, dark rye loaves have been labeled "Jewish pumpernickel." Most of these versions contain some wheat flour for a lighter texture and porous crumb. To impart a deeper color without the lengthy baking time, they also mix in a little molasses, caramel, cocoa powder, or instant coffee. In essence, American pumpernickel came to mean a dark rye bread with added bran. "Jewish rye," made without the bran, is even lighter.
Traditional German schwarzbrot has a thin crust, but Jews typically prefer a thicker, chewy crust, which is achieved by glazing the bread with cornstarch or egg white. German pumpernickel is generally baked in a pan, while Jewish versions are typically free-form. Some bakers add caraway seeds. Raisins, an unheard-of addition in Germany, are common in American pumpernickel, their sweetness offsetting the slight sourness of the bread and the tanginess of a schmear of cream cheese. Pumpernickel was also commonly eaten with pickled herring and egg salad. The dark loaves became staples of Jewish bakeries, delis, and Jewish restaurants. In the 1970s, pumpernickel even became a popular bagel flavor.
A marble rye, immortalized in a 1996 episode of Seinfeld in which Jerry steals the last bakery loaf from a little old lady, is a New York loaf of half light rye swirled with half pumpernickel.
(See also Bread and Rye)
Pumpkin
The pumpkin, a large, orange fruit, has been widely cultivated throughout the Americas for about six thousand years and was among the first New World foods introduced to Europeans by Native Americans. Still, it is a much-neglected plant in much of Europe and North America, where it is primarily relegated to pies. Yet the orange-colored flesh with an earthy overtone offers many culinary possibilities: It can be baked, boiled, steamed, or stuffed. The best varities for cooking are small, pale, and sweet, especially the cheese pumpkin, sugar pumpkin, and peanut pumpkin.
In the beginning of the sixteenth century, Sephardim and Italian Jews began selling pumpkins and adopted them into their pantry earlier and more vigorously than their neighbors. Therefore, the presence of pumpkin in early Mediterranean dishes is usually a sign of Sephardic influence. Sephardim and Italians use it to make soups, stews, puddings, jams, cakes, pancakes, and pastry fillings. Toasted pumpkin seeds (pivites) are a popular Sephardic snack.
This autumn vegetable is used for various traditional Rosh Hashanah, Sukkot, and Hanukkah dishes. Sephardim from the eastern Mediterranean enjoy it in pancakes; Syrians tend to prefer their pumpkin pancakes spicy (kibbet yatkeen), while Sephardim from Turkey and Greece generally favor them slightly sweet (bimuelos de kalavasa). The sweet version is traditional on Rosh Hashanah, as the Arabic word for pumpkin is qara, which is a homonym for the Hebrew for "called out," denoting that our good deeds should be called out at this time of judgment. The seeds also symbolize fruitfulness and fertility. It is also used to fill pastries, such as empanadas, and mixed into bread dough for bollos. Bukharans enjoy oshee tos kadoo (stuffed pumpkin) for the Sabbath and Sukkot. Sopa de gra y chimra (pumpkin and chickpea soup) is a traditional Rosh Hashanah and Sukkot dish in Morocco. Libyans make a pumpkin dip (qara) popular in mezzes (appetizer assortments). The Bene Israel of Mumbai use pumpkin to make a curried stew and a pudding-like confection. Pumpkin fritters (fritelle di zucca) are a favorite Italian Hanukkah treat. Pumpkin-filled ravioli (tortelli de zucca) is a signature dish of Italian Jews.
Pupik
Birds, lacking teeth, cannot chew and, instead, many species process their food before it enters the intestines by passing it through organs. From the crop, where food is held, it moves in small portions into the proventriculus (glandular stomach) and then into the ventriculus (gizzard or muscular stomach) on the left side of the ventral abdomen; this organ is called korkeban in Hebrew and in Eastern Yiddish, from the word for bellybutton, pupik or pipik. The Western Yiddish word for bellybutton is nopl. Birds, of course, do not have navels.
The gizzard of most seed-eating birds and insectivores is more muscular than those of meat eaters, as grains and insects are harder to disintegrate than flesh. Many birds ingest small stones that make their way to the gizzard to help mash the food. In some birds, including all of the kosher ones, the inside of the gizzard is lined with a tough, thick, yellow keratinoid membrane secreted by the mucosa, which allows the gizzard to withstand the impact of grains and stones. Other birds, including the cuckoo and most birds of prey, have a soft no
nkeratinoid inner layer. If this lining (kis in Hebrew) cannot be peeled off from the muscular part of the gizzard by hand, it is a sign of a nonkosher bird. Since the pupik is a muscular organ, it has to be simmered for an extended period, such as in a fricassee or soup, in order to become edible. A pupiklech is a dish of chicken gizzards.
A Moishe Pupik is a person who is annoyingly self-important.
Puri
Puri is a flatbread made with wheat flour.
Origin: Georgia
In western Georgia, the predominant grain is cornmeal, while in the eastern part of the country, wheat is the more important grain. Georgians from the east eat prodigious amounts of wheat bread called puri (from the Hindi deep-fried flatbread, puri, from the Sanskrit purah, "cake"). There are three main forms of Georgian puri: dedas puri, shotis puri, and lavash. Dedas puri, literally meaning "mother's bread," is a slightly chewy round loaf, with a hole punched in the center to prevent it from ballooning and forming a pocket. These large loaves are ubiquitous at Georgian dinners. The same dough is also shaped into long ovals—similar to a flattened baguette but denser and moister inside—called shotis puri, shoti, and tonis puri (oven bread), which are typically enjoyed for breakfast. The shape was purportedly developed so that the loaves could fit inside the high boots of Georgian warriors as they rode off to battle. Lavash is a widespread, very thin, Eurasian bread. In addition, puri dough is formed into a rectangle to make kutkhani; for khachapuri the dough is filled with cheese or beans.
Georgian wheat breads are primarily cooked on the inner walls of a toné, a circular clay oven with a large hole on the top similar to the Persian tanur. Usually the outside of the oven is surrounded by wood like a barrel, or by tiles with insulating material in between. In the countryside, bread is typically baked in a small family toné, usually in large batches to last several days. In the cities, professional bakers supply the population with fresh loaves daily. Georgian bread dough is a basic soft mixture of flour, water, salt, and starter combined in a vartsli (trough). The starter imparts a tang to the loaves. While the dough is rising, a roaring fire is lit inside the oven, which is typically ignited with dried grape vine trimmings. When the black soot on the inner walls of the oven turns white, indicating that the temperature is ready, the fire is covered and a dampened burlap rag is rubbed along the interior to clean it. The baker (mepuri) forms pieces of dough into rounds or long strips, pats one side three or four times with salted water, and slaps the moistened side against the interior of the oven until the entire wall is covered—the curved surface of the oven forms curved loaves. Only one side of the loaves touches the oven, so all puri loaves are relatively flat.
The intense heat of the toné leaves the breads moist on the inside, slightly crisp on the exterior, and distinctively smoky in flavor. At informal meals, the bread is simply pulled apart by the diners, but in formal settings it is cut into two-inch pieces for serving. Bread is commonly accompanied with fresh herbs, including basil, cilantro, and tarragon.
Georgian Jews use the standard puris for their Sabbath and holiday loaves. At a wedding, Georgian Jews feature a kabaluli, a special loaf enriched with eggs and sprinkled with sugar; the bread is a symbol of the bride, wishing that she should be sweet and the source of happiness.
This 18th century French Purim plate depicts a scene from the Book of Esther—Mordechai being led on horseback by Haman. The plate was used for mishloach manot (sending gifts of food).
(See also Bread and Khachapuri)
Purim
In 539 BCE, Cyrus conquered Babylon and the Jews suddenly found themselves part of the Persian Empire. It was under one of his successors that the Purim story transpired; the episode is recounted in the Megillat Ester (Scroll of Esther), the last of the twenty-four books of the Bible. After King Ahasuerus (Artaxerxes) promoted Haman to the position of vizier, Haman conspired to exterminate the entire Jewish population of the Persian Empire. Haman cast lots to determine the most propitious day, choosing the thirteenth of the month of Adar. The plot backfired when it turned out that the new queen, Esther, was Jewish, and the villain and his allies were roundly routed.
In response to Haman's plot to annihilate the Jews, their descendants commemorate the day after Haman's defeat—the day the Jews "gained relief" and celebrated their survival, the fourteenth of Adar (usually in March)—through physical enjoyment and riotous celebration on the holiday of Purim (lots). Because the fighting continued in the Persian capital of Shushan (Susa) for an additional day, any city that possessed a surrounding wall at the time of Joshua, such as Shushan or Jerusalem, celebrates on the fifteenth of Adar, which is called Shushan Purim. In leap years, when a second month of Adar is added, Purim is celebrated in the second Adar.
There are four central Purim rituals: reading the Scroll of Esther; sending mishloach manot (gifts of foods) to friends; giving money to the poor; and eating a seudah (feast). Children, as well as many adults, dress up in costumes, a custom that originated in Italy at the end of the fifteenth century, inspired by the masked entertainers of the commedia dell'arte.
Food is essential in fulfilling the two rituals held on Purim day: The Purim seudah and mishloach manot. In addition, alcohol is liberally enjoyed, a practice most strongly disapproved of during the rest of the year. The Purim seudah is traditionally held on Purim afternoon.
Purim is a holiday on which no divine miracle occurred and the Scroll of Esther is the only book of the Bible not containing the name of God; therefore, the sense of the mysterious and hidden extends even to the food. Many Purim dishes in both Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities involve a filling, alluding to the many intrigues, secrets, and surprises unfolding in the Purim story. Both Sephardic and Ashkenazic communities eat chickpeas (nahit and arbes in Yiddish) or fava beans (bub in Yiddish), the legumes alluding to a tradition that Esther, in order to keep kosher, ate only vegetarian foods while living in the king's palace. Other Holiday foods, however, often vary widely from community to community. Due to the similarity in the Yiddish word for poppy seeds (mohn) and the name of the villain Haman (in Hebrew, Hamohn), poppy seeds emerged as traditional Ashkenazic Purim fare. Some people eat turkey (tarnegol hodu, "Indian chicken," in Hebrew) as Europeans initially thought the bird came from India—they associated the turkey with Purim because Ahasuerus ruled "from Hodu [India] to Kush." In addition, Purim falls at a time in the year before the spring births, when historically there was not an excess of animals, and most of the early spring vegetables had not emerged, so the focus frequently was on baked goods and dried legumes.
Kabbalists compare Purim to another, seemingly unrelated holiday—Yom Kippur. The similarity in names was seen as no coincidence and a parallel was drawn between the lots of Purim cast by Haman and the lots of Yom Kippur cast in the Temple to decide the scapegoat. Foods served on Yom Kippur eve, especially kreplach, became traditional Ashkenazic Purim fare. In addition, triangular foods, including kreplach and hamantaschen (associating Haman with a three-cornered hat arose in the late seventeenth century), became prevalent.
A Sephardic Purim seudah might feature small breads or foulares (pastries filled with long-cooked eggs), sambusak (meat turnovers), stewed chicken, and rice with chickpeas or nuts. An Ashkenazic Purim feast traditionally begins with a long braided challah called koyletsh, symbolizing the rope on which Haman was hung. Traditional Ashkenazic fare includes kreplach in chicken soup, knishes, pirogen, stuffed roast chicken or veal breast, stuffed cabbage, and tzimmes. Persians feature sweet rice (shirin polo), gundi (meatballs), kuku (omelets), and halva. Other Purim specialties include Iraqi chickpea turnovers (sambusak el tawa), Venetian spinach pasta roll (rotolo di pasta con spinaci), Romanian sweetened chickpeas (tzimmes nahit), and Ukrainian buckwheat and noodles (kasha varnishkes).
The most common Purim foods are sweets and every community enjoys at least one traditional sugary pastry. This emphasis on sweets is based on the very nature of the holiday; sugary foods are a symbolic way to wish for a "good lot" or, in ot
her words, a sweet future. Muslims refer to Purim as Id-al-Sukkar (the Sugar Holiday). Middle Eastern Jews traditionally serve similar items on Purim and Hanukkah "to connect miracle with miracle," linking the physical salvation of the Jews by Mordechai and Esther to the spiritual salvation by the Maccabees. In many Sephardic communities on Hanukkah and Purim, members of wealthier families brought trays of these sweets to less fortunate households.
The underlying theme of most Purim pastries is shape—a person symbolically erases Haman's name by eating a pastry formed to represent part of the villainous prime minister's clothing or anatomy, most notably his pocket, hat, foot, or ear. The most widespread of these Purim pastries are deep-fried strips of dough known by an assortment of local names, most meaning "Haman's ears," including oznei Haman in Hebrew, orejas de Haman in Ladino, and orecchi de Aman in Italy.
Sephardim enjoy syrup-drenched pastries such as baklava, kanafeh (shredded wheat pastries), travados (pastry horns), and ma'amoul (filled cookies). For Purim breakfast, many Sephardic families have a custom of preparing revanadas de parida (French toast), for the occasion renamed "Queen Esther's toast." Iraqis bake hadgi badah (cardamom-almond cookies) and Italians prepare buricche (puff pastry turnovers). Bukharans deep-fry dumplings called samsa. Grain halvas are popular throughout central Asia, while Greeks enjoy a similar semolina pudding known as pyota. Ashkenazim make hamantaschen (tricornered filled pastries), mohn kichlach (poppy seed cookies), kindli (filled yeast pastries), lekach (honey cake), teiglach (honey-cooked balls of dough), and strudel. Alsatians and some Germans make gingerbread men (lebkuchen Hamohns) and cut fruit fluden into triangles. Romanians prepare a rice kugel with raisins. Poles drizzle an unfilled babka with syrup laced with rum, whiskey, or brandy, creating a cake called shikkera babka ("drunken"), which is akin to baba au rhum.
(See also Haman's Ear (Oznei Haman), Hamantasch, and Mishloach Manot)
